UP SysTeam, a group of student developers from the University of the Philippines was named global winner of the Google Developer Student Clubs’ (DSC) 2021 Solution Challenge for developing a disaster risk management system for the island communities of Tubigon, Bohol.
The UP team, composed of Jian Hurl Asiado from UP Los Banos, Patricia Marie Garcia of UP Visayas (Miag-ao), Rex Ronter Ruiz from UP Diliman and Joerian Gauten from UP Open University, joined Singapore’s Dementi Care and India’s Eye of God Team as the top 3 winners of the challenge, besting more than 2,500 developers from around the world.
The UP students made it to the Top 10 global finalists in July before being named one of the top 3 winners in August.
The disaster risk management system called Project Island Response and Intervention for Systematic Evacuation (i-RISE) aims to bridge the information gap between local government units, disaster risk management offices, and the island communities of Tubigon, Bohol using Google products such as Google Cloud Functions, Flutter, Cloud Firestore, and IOT Core.
The system allows people and the government to view pertinent information including tide information and other inclement weather announcements through a dashboard.
“Experiencing the strongest typhoons and other natural disasters is a common pain point in the Philippines and this motivated us to confront the challenge of disaster resilience in our country. The project envisions a robust and inclusive Philippines where Filipinos anywhere in the archipelago are able to participate in an effective disaster risk management system,” shared UP SysTeam.
“We take pride in knowing that we have put the Philippines in the global spotlight and that programs like Google 2021 Solution Challenge enable young developers to provide and address key challenges in our communities,” the UP team added.
The 2021 Solution Challenge is an annual competition that invites students to develop a solution for one or more of the United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) problems using Google products or platforms. The top ten finalists participated in a Demo Day where they shared more about the story behind their projects and what made them decide that it was an app that needed to be made.
“We extend our heartfelt congratulations to UP SysTeam for winning the 2021 Solution Challenge! Besides successfully creating a system that will help save lives and can potentially be replicated all over the country, the team also showed the Filipino youth’s capability to innovate–something that Google will continually support them with,” said Bernadette Nacario, Google Philippines’ Country Director. “We look forward to supporting more young Filipinos in the future and empowering them to realize their potential towards making a better world.”
By winning the 2021 Solution Challenge, UP SysTeam will receive a Pluralsight subscription which allows access to its extensive library of expert-led courses that can help take their projects to the next level, a customized swag kit, tailored mentoring from Googlers and experts, a Chromebook, exposure on Google Developer channels, and an opportunity for a private team meeting with a Google executive.
UP Diliman students were named Country Champions in the 3M regional innovation tilt and will vie in the September finals.
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